As per the recent national level study "Demand and Supply of medicinal plants in India" conducted by FRLHT, Bangalore the annual trade/demand of roots of Oroxylum indicum reported to be 1000-2000 MT. Due to this unprecedented demand and over-exploitation, the wild populations (already they are slow growing and sporadic by nature) are facing serious threat of extinction. As the roots are used (it is an ingredient in Dasamula arishtam) the entire plants are uprooted and thus killed. This not only wipes the existing population, but stops the regeneration too.
This species has been assigned with various threat categories (following IUCN guidelines) ranging from Vulnerable to Endangered, for nine different states, through CAMP workshops conducted by FRLHT with collaboration of various stake holders such as the state forest depts., scientists, traders, local knowledgeable community etc. The good news is large scale cultivation has been initiated by forest dept. of Gujarat and perhaps few other states to meet the ever increasing demand for the species. And various state forest depts. (incl Orissa) have taken up conservation measures, following FRLHT's recommendations, to conserve the species *in situ*. With regards Vijayasankar On Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 1:30 PM, Pankaj Oudhia <[email protected]>wrote: > Thanks Vijayashankar ji. I have observed rich population in Orissa also. > Old trees in dense forest are still safe as only Traditional Healers are > aware of its presence. They discuss less about it because of fear of "Wood > mafia" as well as Greedy traders. > > regards > > Pankaj Oudhia > > On Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 8:38 PM, Vijayasankar <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Though O. indicum is distributed across India, it is sporadic by nature. >> You can't have a sizable population in one place. But we (FRLHT) have >> observed a large population only in Chhattisgarh, and proposed the site for >> *in situ* conservation. >> >> With regards >> >> Vijayasankar >> >> >> On Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 9:27 AM, Pankaj Kumar >> <[email protected]>wrote: >> >>> I believe this is what we call the survival of the fittest. Most >>> probably the seedlings germinating on the other leaves or within the >>> fruit coat wont survive for long. The plant is usually adapted for >>> wind dispersal but it may happen due to abrupt rain. >>> >>> Why would a seed like to be dispersed like that, i.e., away from the >>> mother plant: >>> The possible answer which I could think is JUST TO REDUCE COMPETITION >>> WITH THE MOTHER PLANT. >>> >>> But indeed this is a nice observation. If possible please keep an eye >>> to check if the seedings can survive for long or if you wish to >>> conserve the species, then you can just collect the seedlings and >>> plant them at some distance from the mother plant. I dont know much >>> about you Mr. Neil, but just in case you are a researcher then you may >>> try to atleast publish this as a short note or wait for sometime to >>> check if they survive and then publish it. It will just need some >>> field observation from your side. >>> Regards >>> Pankaj >>> >> >> >
